Did you go to China and verify this? Of course not. Everything you know about China comes from imperial core states, corporations, and NGOs (which are funded by those same states & corporations). Over a century of anticommunist propaganda has primed you to believe their narratives.

They have to keep pushing these narratives for the same reason Coca-Cola has to keep advertising their brand, despite already being wildly popular. Advertising/propaganda requires constant maintenance. Previously.